Maestro PMS

Benefits:

Hand down the best support I've ever experienced from a tech company. Not only are they fast to respond to questions, they provide monthly training at no extra cost.

Drawbacks:

Naming conventions are misleading. Navigation can be cumbersome and thee online help feature is too vague.

In sum:

One of the best systems I've had the pleasure to work with. Support is excellent, the software is robust and full of upper-tier functionality. CANNOT be implemented without a rigorous training schedule. Not a system you can throw a temp or intern on and expect them to understand.

In sum:

We are an independent property and Northwind PMS has the ability to do everything we need plus more. Also, NORTHWIND staff is excellent!

Benefits:

Once you get past the learning curve, it's very easy to use and move quickly through the program. It is a great program for all aspects of managing hotel be it inventory and rate management, guest management, reservations, sales, accounting. I'm sure in 7 years I've used it, I didn't get to use every function since there was just so much. What I liked most was that it is quick and easy to access a lot of information (guest, company, or group info or history / room availability and pricing / accounting and sales figures). This was very helpful since easy flow of information is vital to a hotel running smoothly. When loading rates, I particularly liked that I could set automatic rate adjustments base on parameters such as dates, day of the week, occupancy, room type, or a combination of any of the aforementioned. This automation meant that if sudden inventory changes occurred on the rare occasion that I was not working, the rates would increase or decrease to achieve the best average daily rate and occupancy. Managing inventory was very easy with Maestro. Even with 9 different room types, I could use various reports to see overall occupancy, occupancy by room types, and also by specific rooms. I could go on. It is a very solid PMS program and I would use it again.

Drawbacks:

The only real dislike that I had with this program was the learning curve. Because the particular Maestro PMS we used was easier to use without using a computer mouse, it was essential to learn the mnemonics (ALT- letter combo) of every function. I still remember that to get to reservations was ALT-I-R. This was was complicated by the fact that sometimes the ALT-letter combo varied between different tasks even though they were similar tasks. The best way to explain is an example: In a guest reservation, to access notes I would key in ALT-I-N, in a group reservation, I would have to key in ALT-I-T.

In sum:

I'll have to admit that in 9 years working in hotels that I've only used 2 PMS programs. Of the two, I strongly preferred Maestro. I've used Maestro as a front desk agent, night auditor, front office manager, and general manager. Once past the learning curve, and with repeated use, you can fly through the program quicker than the computer can refresh... at least I could :)

Benefits:

That you can view availability and schedule meeting rooms along with guest rooms seamlessly.

Drawbacks:

The learning curve. However, there are certain individuals that adept more quickly than others.

In sum:

I have been using Maestro for 10 years (maintaining the setup, training staff and booking groups) and have seen improvements during this time with periodic upgrades. As a retreat center we have some unique requirements compared to hotels/resorts and the company was able to provide a way to accommodate most of those needs. It is a great program to use for individual and group reservations. Analytics views are great for historical data as well as projecting future usage. Support is great to work with and management is open to discussing enhancement requests.

Benefits:

The customer support is great rep. who I usually spoke with was almost always able to solve my problems rather than escalating the problem.

Drawbacks:

The software is glitchy and as good as customer support is they can fix it but never showed us what to do in many of the occasions when it glitched.

In sum:

Pretty Good

Benefits:

The hospitality industry is about people - connecting people, servicing people, and other various interactions. Having a key software vendor that is also about people is invaluable. The support staff at Maestro are what sets them apart from their competition - the Canadian hospitality is on full display here.

Drawbacks:

As is common with PMS suites, the interface is a bit dated in its look. The HTML version is a bit more polished however.

Benefits:

Transaction details, Customer Support, Auditing Reports

Drawbacks:

Unfortunately, we are still waiting on Tax reporting for our 1099's / 1042s annual tax reporting. Being in the US, we require both. We've requested the function over 3 years ago and it is still on the back burner. For US Clients-this is a BIG CON

In sum:

Over all, we like using Maestro PMS.

Benefits:

The UI is very intuitive and easy on the eyes. Not a lot of searching for the functions I need. It functions well enough, has similar features to other PMS programs I've used.

Drawbacks:

I don't really have any cons to add, it's a typical PMS. They all have pluses and minuses but they basically do the same thing.

Benefits:

After the initial handover and training some systems can be difficult to use, not this one, Nice and easy to use with some great information to hand. Makes life so much easier with the way things are processed.

Drawbacks:

Some more work could be done to the interface to bring it more up to date with the fast-paced industry.

Benefits:

Easy to merge between multiple properties for hotels.

Drawbacks:

This system was so confusing at first. I came from using Opera. I am used to operating many windows at once. This system is very stubborn you cannot even easily escape a rating query without making a reservation. I think there needs to be an easier way to look up rates without having to plug in a turn away code every time. I did not like how you could only have one screen up at a time. I do not recommend this system for larger properties, it was difficult for my staff to understand and multi-task with this system. It takes so much time to learn the tips and tricks for the system. I think they need to allow multiple windows. Also, I had many problems when my credit card information rules would change and over authorize cards when checking guests in.

In sum:

I would only recommend this program if you have an extensive program where the actual software people come to your property can assist you. This is a very length system. Good luck choosing!